Pro-poor

Universal Service Obligations in Utility Concession Contracts and the Needs of the Poor in Argentina’s Privatizations

This document is a study on Argentina’s Obligatory Service and Universal Service obligation for diverse sectors such as energy, telecommunication, water and sewage, and gas. It opens with an analysis of the concepts of Obligatory Service and Universal Service, including the Argentinean experience, and concludes with the relevant principles of the case.

Designing Pro-Poor Water and Sewer Concessions: Early Lessons from Bolivia

In this document, the author explains how the design of laws and regulations, bidding process, and contract play an important role in the results of a private participation in infrastructure. The Author conducts a study on concessions for water and sewer services in La Paz and El Alto, and illustrates how the service coverage is directly affected by the provisions established under the concession framework. The author also suggests improving private sector performance by enforcing well-defined contractual arrangements between the government and private sector participants.

Technical Specifications to Concession Contract (Unofficial English translation), Mali

Article 21 specifies reporting requirements for the concession holder. Article 25 gives detailed formulas on how retail tariffs will be set. The tariff setting formula allows the concession holder to recover the costs of pre-financing the customer’s connection costs. The overall effect is that AMADER (a rural energy agency) functions both as a grant giving agency and a de facto regulator.

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Public-Private Partnerships and the Poor - Case Study- Jakarta, Indonesia. Drinking water concessions, (a study for better understanding public-private partnerships and water provision in low-income settlements)

This document examines several aspects of private sector participation in the drinking water concessions in Jakarta. The objective of the report is to:

  • study the agreements and resulting outcomes;
  • describe the perceptions of the different stakeholders;
  • describe measures to improve the accessibility of drinking water for the urban poor; and
  • discuss alternatives in developing partnerships with community-based organizations.

Public-private partnerships and the poor - Case Study- Kibera. Small enterprises and water provision in Kibera, Nairobi

This is a case study on private sector participation in the water sector in Nairobi, Kenya, particularly in the largest informal settlement of the city, called Kiberia. The case study analyzes a project which was developed to re-arrange the existing public-private partnerships where private sector participants were small local providers and established water services across informal settings.

Public-Private Partnerships and the poor - Case report 3: Awami tanks in Orangi Town, Karachi, Pakistan

This is a case report on water service projects in Karachi, Pakistan, where the performance of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has declined severely causing shortages and other problems in the area. Specifically, the report focuses on analyzing how, because of a public-private initiative, the water supply situation was smoothed in a quite large informal settlement at Karachi. The report also draws important conclusions about this particular public-private partnership and gives some recommendations about it.

The Design of the Manila Concessions and Implications for the Poor

This document studies a program in Manila which was implemented to obtain universal water coverage during its first ten years. The program was impactful in low-income neighborhoods due to the structure of concessions. The study details the background of the project, the contractual arrangements, and incentives and concludes with the lessons learned from this case.

Public-Private Partnerships and the poor - Case Study- Dolphin Coast water concessions, Dolphin Coast, South Africa

This document studies the existing water concession provisions in Dolphin Coast area in South Africa, including various outcomes before the report was published; different perceptions of several stakeholders; and its impact on poor groups in that particular area. It is a summary of the evaluation of the public-private partnership and its impact.

Do higher income customers benefit more from subsidies than do poorer customers?

Utilities often fail to recover through tariffs the costs of operation and maintenance, let alone investment in infrastructure. There is a common perception that tariff increases are politically untenable and so utilities become subsidized out of general taxation, whether there is a deliberate policy to this end or, as is often the case because the service provider cannot balance its books at the end of the fiscal period.